Icefish Fritters
Serves 4

Ingredients

300g icefish or

sardine whitebait

100ml water

3 eggs

150g flour

Handful of chopped

seaweed or

rock samphire

1/2 tsp baking powder

Salt and pepper

Sunflower oil

for shallow frying

Lemon wedges

A dish made of fish and seaweed, two ingredients that depend on
water for survival. Icefish are a marine delicacy ideal for these aquainspired
fritters due to their watery name and appearance ( these tiny
southeast Asian natives are translucent, earning them the name
‘glass fish’). As ‘neotenic’ organisms,
they retain some characteristics
of their early development; the adult
icefish has undeveloped scales and
hard bones which means the entire
fish may be eaten.
For the fritters

For the fritters
If using fresh seaweed from the
fishmonger, soak for 24h in cold water,
then chop finely. Otherwise finely chop
a handful of blanched rock samphire
and set aside. Defrost the icefish,
if necessary, and drain. Prepare a batter
by mixing the water and eggs. Slowly
add the flour and baking powder,
mixing everything with a whisk until
smooth with no lumps. Add the seaweed
or rock samphire, then season to taste
with salt and pepper. Pour sufficient
sunflower oil in a frying pan to shallow
fry, then bring to a high heat. When
the oil begins to smoke, dip a spoonful
of fish into the batter, then transfer
to the pan and fry until golden. Sprinkle
with more salt and serve immediately
with lemon wedges.